In 2021, the CAUL Board identified developing a work program related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) as a priority. The intention was that this work should be grounded in an evidence-based understanding of the university library sector's staffing profile and the current state of EDI work across the industry. There was no consolidated evidence base available at the time. The Board endorsed a proposal to undertake a survey of CAUL Member institution staff. The project aims were to:
- develop an evidence-based understanding of the staffing profile of the academic library sector, including the diversity profile
- develop an understanding of current strategy practice related to EDI in academic libraries.
- explore perceptions of CAUL Member institution staff related to EDI across the sector.
CAUL established the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Survey Project Team, which convened in early 2022 and began work to identify and learn from similar initiatives conducted in other regions and other industries, scope and develop the survey, and analyse the results.
In February and March 2023, CAUL conducted two equity, diversity and inclusion surveys - one for completion by senior leaders, focused on EDI work at their institutions, and one for completion by all library staff. More than 500 library staff from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand participated in the survey.
The Project Team is pleased to announce that the report on the survey results will be launched on 26 September 2024.
You are invited to attend the launch, where members of the project team will share insights into the results and lessons learned from the broader project. You'll also hear from guests invited to reflect on the survey findings. The report will be released shortly after the event.
This event is open to all CAUL Member institution staff across Australia and Aotearoa.
We hope you can join us for this important event.
The project was overseen by Con Wiebrands, formerly of Edith Cowan University, and CAUL's Directors, Strategy & Analytics (Kate Tickle, followed by Katya Henry), but driven by a committed project team whose significant contributions made the work possible:
- Nicole Clark, Queensland University of Technology
- Erin Roga, Federation University Australia
- Tegan Clark, formerly of University of Western Australia
- Christian West, formerly of University of Canberra and the Australian National University
- Flic French, University of Queensland
- Lisa Steed, University of Waikato
- Lisa Ogle, University of Newcastle
- Antonia Mocatta, University of Sydney.